Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Yep, that’s right, here in good old Argentina, as of yesterday it is
SPRING! :) It’s the craziest thing, here they actually celebrate The Day of
Spring (El Día de Primavera). It’s hilarious. Like they have parties with their
families and do special stuff. We even received FLOWERS at Church! And as we
were greeting people in church they all told me "Feliz Día de
Primavera!" I was like, who the heck celebrates the day of a new season?
Jaja! In Utah we don’t even acknowledge the official
start of a season. But hey that might be because our seasons are so whacked.
Jaja, but after having experienced it, it was fun and I can see why they do it
jaja! However, I don’t know if they only do it for Spring...I know they
definitely didn’t do it for winter jaja. So yeah, I hope you all enjoyed your
Day of Fall yesterday! ;)

The Flowers Hannah got at church for El Dia de Primavera

This week was a good one. Yesterday we had 3 investigators at
church. Rubén came all by himself after us trying to get him to come 2 weeks
before, I was so incredibly surprised when I walked in and saw him. The thing
with him is that he isn’t married...so we can’t put a baptismal date with him
until he gets married or starts on the paper work to get married. So we’ll see
what happens. He’s really great though. Daniela is married to a member, but she’s
super catholic and believes heavily in the Saints and doesn’t feel the need to
be baptized right now since she had a bad experience with being baptized in the
Universal church a while ago. They just wanted her money or something. So we’ll
keep working with her. I love her a lot! She’s super great! Then we had Norma.
She was a miracle this week. She’s a former investigator and we just stopped by
to see if we could see her, and she invited us in to teach her and her
"amigo" (but they don’t live together luckily). Anyways, she is super
awesome. She’s a lawyer, a little old lady, and right now she only has half of
her teeth because her dentist is doing some operation. I don’t really know. But
she’s un amor. I love her so much. We’re planning on her being baptized General
Conference weekend! :)

Last week we had a zone conference! Our zone conference got
changed last minute and we ended up being with my old zone! It was so much fun seeing
everyone again and being with them. Oh boy, I just love seeing all the
missionaries. Not to mention it was so great Seeing Presidente Ayre y Hermana
Ayre. Oh how I love them! They are seriously so great! They have so much love
for us it’s pretty much tangible! I learned a lot about using the Book of
Mormon in our teaching and with our investigators. We also watched a talk by
President Uchtdorf. It was the same one he gave to us in the MTC so it was fun
seeing it again and re-learning. :) It was a super awesome Zone Conference all
around.

This week, my companion and I have talked a lot about how to
be a consecrated missionary and the blessings that will come from it. We have
really been trying to be 100% consecrated missionaries. I know that Heavenly
Father knows my potential and that I will truly be able to reach that potential
if I give Him everything and become 100% consecrated. That’s what I want for my
mission-to be a consecrated missionary. It’s something that will help me for
the rest of my life. Because that’s one thing about the mission. The lessons we
learn are most definitely not just limited to the mission. The lessons we learn
are to be applied in our lives for the rest of our lives. And that’s what I
want for my mission and my life. I want my mission to change me and better me
for the rest of my life. So yeah, that’s the basic goal I’m working on here in Argentina. But
how I accomplish that is by doing the Lord’s work. There is nothing harder and more
rewarding than doing His work. I really do love being a missionary! No hay nada
que sea mejor! De esto yo tesifico!! :)

Well, that’s all for this week! You won’t be hearing from me
until Friday, Oct.
3! Why?? Because we are going to the TEMPLE!!! I could cry I’m so excited!! :) So
yeah, my zone has decided to have our entire p-day that Friday in order to do an
activity as a zone after the temple, instead of splitting up our p-day between
Monday (half a day) and Friday
(half a day). Así que....Hasta viernes!! Les amo! Remember, when we love the
way the Savior does, miracles happen. And of course, Stay Anxiously Engaged!!
:)

Monday, September 15, 2014

This week was pretty good! More than anything I was able to
learn a lot this week. To be honest, we pretty much did just the same old same
old, but it was a good growing week if ya know what I mean. Hmmm...I’ll explain
a little more. At the beginning of the week, starting Sunday, between all our
leaders and the members, we had just about everyone in our small world as
missionaries telling us what we were doing wrong and exactly what we needed to
do. I can’t even explain how frustrating this was! I mean, I’m already a
perfectionist so I basically was already well aware of what was happening and
what I needed to do to improve the situation and improve myself. My companion and
I talked a lot and we soon realized that we had many voices
"shouting" at us and it was impossible to satisfy them all. We
recognized that there was only one voice that we needed to listen to, but that
voice was the hardest one to hear: The quiet voice of the spirit. As we
continued to analyze the situation, it dawned on me that this trial we had been
given was an answer to a prayer. My companion and I had wanted from the very
beginning of this transfer to develop the ability to always listen to the spirit
and be completely led by the spirit in everything we do. Well, Heavenly Father
was now (and still is) giving us the opportunity to develop this attribute. He
was giving us the opportunity to find the still small voice of the spirit, and
ignore all the other loud voices that were shouting at us. When we recognized
that this is what we were to learn from this trial, our mentality changed and
we viewed the situation much differently. We could see the trial as a blessing.
But even so, we had no idea HOW we were going to be able to recognize the
spirit. We studied so much about the spirit this week and how we can recognize
his promptings. Well Wednesday,
we fasted for a couple different reasons, but mainly to be able to recognize
the voice of the spirit in our lives so we could be more guided by it and
completely do the will of God. This fast was an incredible experience. It was the absolute easiest fast I’ve ever done.
We fasted during Weekly Planning, and after the fast we were like wow, we
actually received a ton of guidance during this fast. It was incredible. As we
have focused our energy in listening to the spirit and changing our view of the
situation, we have been able to be more sensitive to the spirit. Of course it’s
not over, but the situation has improved and we have learned a lot, and
continue learning a lot about how the spirit works with us. This has seriously
been such a great learning experience for me. It really applies to everyone. We
have so many voices shouting at us constantly-the many voices of the world. And
like I said, they’re shouting. They are not quiet which makes it that much
harder to hear the soft voice of the Holy Ghost. But his voice is the most
important. I know that as we pray to be more receptive to this voice, God will
give us the opportunities to practice. It is this voice that we must listen for
and hear and heed. This voice will never lead us astray. It takes practice
hearing this voice. I’ve been very blessed to have the opportunity to practice
so much here in the mission. It’s something that I will need the rest of my
life.

So my years of piano are really paying off right now. Yep, that’s
right, I’m the piano player for Sacrament Meeting. In Congreso we had a few
people that could play the piano, so they never needed me. I started to think
that every ward would be like that and maybe I wouldn’t play the piano in my
mission at all. Ja! Oh how wrong I was! I am the one that has the privilege of accompanying
the congregation every Sunday.
But in all honesty I really love it! I can’t even tell you how much I have
missed playing the piano! It is seriously so fun for me that I now get to play.
It’s kind of intimidating because I never have time to practice so I just get
up there and start playing and hope for the best jaja. Nah, but it’s all good.
I love it! :)

Loving painting for the service project!

So it finally happened! (Even though I only have 6 months in
the mish jaja) Saturday
we had a huge service project (I don’t know if it was world wide...). Two or
three stakes got together and did service for a hospital. There were like 4
zones of missionaries there so it was a nice little reunion. What I refer to
when I say "It finally happened" is that I got to do the typical
missionary service project and I got to paint!! It was so much fun! I had a
blast! All the missionaries were pretty much outside painting the building, but
there were tons of members doing more service inside. The missionaries were
only there from 9-12, but the service project lasted until like 3 or 5 so it
was a pretty huge project. It was so much fun!! I can’t even tell you!! I had a
blast! It’s always fun being with all the missionary. And on top of that, it
was fun to just paint and relax from all the stress. By the end I was covered
in paint. It took me like an hour in the shower to get all the paint off jaja!!
:)

Covering up the graffiti!

Well, that’s about it for ya. We have a couple investigators
that are super awesome named Mariana y Jenifer, but they didn’t go to
church for the second week in a row even when it was super set, like they were
going to go for sure. So I don’t know what happened, it looks like we’re going
to have to stop visiting them. :( So just pray that we’ll be able to find
people. It has been super hard to find people lately. Ugh. But that’s okay, we’re
definitely going to find!!! Thanks for all you do! I love you all lots! Until
next week!! :) Remember, when you love the way the Savior does, miracles
happen! And of course, Stay Anxiously Engaged!! :)

Thursday, September 11, 2014

Wow what a week! To be honest, I don’t have a ton of time so
I’m just going to write a few things that happened and the few things that I
have been able to learn this past week.

So as you all know, I am only 20 blocks away from my old
area. Well, starting next
Sunday (not this
Sunday) Congreso, my old ward, will be sharing a chapel with
Almagro, my current ward. To be honest, when I first heard this, I had no idea
how to feel. I was a little bugged if I’m going to be honest in the beginning
because I’m like, wow I’m serving half my mission is basically the exact same
area, like I’m basically still in Congreso. But then I started thinking more
about it. I was like; well I love the members and the missionaries that are in
Congreso, so at least I’ll be able to see them. Then I realized, hey, I’ll be
able to see Carmen and the whole family!! (When I had to say bye to them, I was
suuuuper sad.) So that was a huge plus. THEN, I realized, Oh my gosh, Malena is
going to be baptized in September so I’m going to be able to be at the
baptism!! I soon realized that me being in Almagro and Congreso sharing a
chapel with us is a HUGE tender mercy of the Lord. Right now I really feel so
blessed by the Lord. It is a huge testament to me that He really is so aware of
me. AH! I can’t wait till the next
Sunday!! :)

So, Wednesday we had the chance to do an hour of Family
History and let me just tell you, I’m addicted! It is seriously so fun! (...I’m
such a nerdy missionary jaja...but hey at least I can recognize it jaja...) It’s
seriously like a puzzle/investigation. I thought that since basically all my
ancestors were pioneers and since I have so many family members that have done
the work that there is nothing more to do but oh was I mistaken!! There’s TONS
of work to do!! It’s incredible! Since I started my mission I’ve had the desire
to do Family History work when I get back, but I didn’t know how or what I
would be doing. Now that I’ve gotten a little taste, I’m stoked to dive more
into it when I get back. We’re super lucky here in Almagro that we have the
resources to do Family History work in our chapel, so President gave us
permission to do an hour every week. I’m just stoked! My invitation to all of you
is to start investigating your family history! Even if you think it’s all
already done, because I assure you its not. There’s always something to
do.

I was reading Ether 6 this last week and learned so much.
Every time the talk about the vessels being tight like unto a dish we can apply
it to ourselves. The Lord instructed them in everything they should do so that
they could successfully reach the promise land. We, too, have been perfectly
instructed and know everything that we must do in order to successfully reach
our promised land. We must be tight like unto a dish in our lives in the gospel
principles so that when we are in the depths of the sea- or in the depths of
our trials- the water (or adversary) can’t enter. We also need to trust that
the storms we endure are in the Lord’s wisdom. It is these storms and winds that are leading
us to our promised land. If we prepare ourselves the way we have been
instructed, we will be strong enough to endure the hardships. The hardships
only last so long (in their case 344 days), but if we put our faith in Christ
and endure them well, we will reach a place far beyond our greatest
imagination- THE Promised Land. I encourage you all to read this chapter. It’s
awesome!! :)

Well, I have lots more to say, but I have absolutely no time
to write more!! Sorry!! :/ I love you all! Have an awesome week! Remember, when
we love the way the Savior does, miracles happen. And of course, Stay Anxiously
Engaged!! :)

Friday, September 5, 2014

Well, where do I start?? Okay first off, my companion got
super sick this last week so she had to rest a ton and we were only able to
leave in the night basically for a few hours. Thank heavens she’s on the up
swing right now so we’ll be able to work like normal this week. Oh second off,
Almagro is HUGE!! I’m not kidding. Congreso was super tiny and we didn’t even
work in half of it because it was all businesses in some areas. Almagro is much
bigger. I have no idea how I’m going to learn this area. And si o si I only
have one transfer to learn it porque chau compañera despues este traslado. I’m
kind nervous jaja. But oh well. I’ve already learned quite a bit in one week,
and we weren’t even able to work the entire time, so I think that’s a pretty
good sign.

La Casa Rosada--It's like our White House

So we had 3 confirmations on Sunday. 2 brothers and 1 sister,
ages 16, 14, 10. They’re from Haiti.
And I don’t know if it’s just because I’ve been away from the fam for almost 6
months, but these kids may just be the absolute craziest kids I have ever
encountered. And that’s saying something knowing my fam jaja. But really, I’ve
never been so drained from just taking them to and from church. Like my
patience was GONE by the end. And I was trying so hard to be super patient the
entire time. It was quite the experience jaja! To be honest, just thinking
about yesterday makes me tired jajaj!

A little insight on the mission. Something that I absolutely
love about the mission...but at the same time it makes me suuuuper frustrated
jajaj...is that right when you think you’ve developed a Christ-like attribute
that you’ve been striving to develop Heavenly Father shows you that you are
just so mistaken. He shows you that you can always always improve and always
develop the attribute better. Because the idea is to one day reach your full
potential and become Godly. We can always be more humble, more faithful, more
diligent, more patient, more loving, more hopeful, etc. It’s so so hard, but it’s
so so great at the same time.

So I don’t know if I already told you, but in Almagro there
is one companionship of Hermanas (us) and then one companionship of elders. So it’s
a nice, new experience to have elders in the ward, but it’s kinda weird. Like
it kinda feels like there’s this weird battle in the ward between the elders
and the hermanas...like who is more loved in the ward..the elders or the
hermanas. I don’t know...it’s interesting. Just a little side note. Oh and we’re
also the only Hermanas in the entire zone!! It’s just a huge change in
comparison to my old zone were we had 3 companionships of hermanas jaja! But my
zone is super great. I have awesome zone leaders and an awesome district
leader! The elders are all really awesome in the zone and really funny. Today, we’re
going to play soccer with the whole zone. Everytime the elders find out that I
play soccer they get super excited, its pretty funny. It seems like all the
zones here are super in to playing soccer just about every p day. But hey, that’s
the elders for you, they don’t care too much about shopping like the hermanas
jaja.

Hannah having an "airhead" moment looking through a cannon thinking it's a telescope!

I’m really so excited for this area. It’s the weirdest
thing, but I just feel so strongly that there are a ton of people super ready
here to get baptized. There are so many people here to find and baptize, I just
know it. I also feel like I will be learning a lot from my companion. Like more
than I originally thought. I feel very strongly that I will be learning things
from her that will help me for the rest of my mission, like a ton. The dynamic
we have between us is a very interesting one. We both have a super huge desire
to work super hard this transfer. As of right now, she’s really not trunky. I’m
hoping that doesn’t change. Especially because I want to work hard and I don’t
want her going home to make me trunky jaja. But we are definitely going to have
a great transfer together, I just know it!! :)

Well, to be honest I think that’s about it for this week.
Not a whole lot to report. My mind is really unfocused right now, so it’s been
hard to write this letter jaja. I hope everyone enjoys Labor Day and has a nice
day of rest! :) Thanks for everything you do for me and for your support!! I
love you all and pray for you all!! :) Remember, when we love the way the
Savior does, miracles happen. And of course, Stay Anxiously Engaged!! :)

Argentina Buenos Aires North Mission

Adventures in Argentina

My name is Hannah Van Wagoner and I have been called to serve in the Argentina Buenos Aires North mission. This is where all my adventures in Argentina will be tracked as I am "anxiously engaged" in spreading the news of this beautiful Gospel!